MPs demand motor vehicle amendment be passed in ongoing session

Terming the Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill 2016 crucial to bringing down incidence of road accidents, several MPs including Congress's Oscar Fernandes and K.T.S Tulsi on Thursday demanded that the bill be passed in the ongoing parliament session.

The MPs said that it was only through the bill that accountability from the accused in the cases of road accidents can be ensured.

"We are all aware that the Bill is crucial and it will be affecting lives of all the citizens, either as a motorists or pedestrians, and it should be passed without further delay," said Fernandes, a Rajya Sabha member and former Union Road, Transport and Highways Minister at the launch of a survey on changes in the act by Consumer Voice, a consumer organisation involved in policy making and complaints redressal.

Stating that 48 per cent of the populace succumb to road accidents in the cases of over-speeding, his nominated upper house colleague Tulsi said that the bill is a move in the right direction and the sooner it is implemented, the better it will it be for the citizens.

The changes in the Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill 2016 was approved by the Union Cabinet on March 31, proposing hefty penalties for various traffic offences, three-year jail terms for parents of minors caught driving and causing fatal accidents and a ten-fold increase in compensation for families of accident victims.

The bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha last August and was referred to a parliamentary standing committee, whose suggestions have been endorsed by the Union Cabinet.

According to the Consumer Voice survey, 95.58 per cent of the respondents believe that the amendment is a strong bill.

It said 87.29 per cent of the respondents believe that high penalties will help in good road discipline while 88.4 per cent believe that alcohol level should be further reduced to help curb road accidents.

"Every year, thousands of citizens get injured or killed along with other road users on Indian roads due to poor roads and a weak road safety law in India. The result of our recent short survey revealed that more than 95per cent people see the MV (Amendment) 2016 as a strong Bill to help in reducing accidents," said Consumer Voice COO Ashim Sanyal.

Approximately 1,374 accidents and 400 accidental deaths take place every day on Indian roads, as per a report by the Road Transport and Highways Ministry in 2015. A tough law is needed to bring down by 50 per cent the road traffic accidents by 2020, a commitment India made by adopting the Brasilia Declaration for Road Safety.

--IANS

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